An Encounter With A Stranger
by Ripped-Up-Fantasies
Summary: Vanessa's life is drastically changed when she follows Adam Copeland to work one day.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer – I own none of the characters except Vanessa. The rest are trademarked to World Wrestling Entertainment.

She woke up with a start. Already she began to feel the blood trickling from her bottom lip, so she quietly tiptoes to the bathroom.

'He must be asleep now,' she reassured herself. He couldn't still be awake or else he would have pounced by now. Sure, she may have been used to his violent rages but that didn't make them any easier to bear. He was a beast; he had no respect for her. All she was to him was a punch bag and a sex toy. Nothing more. He couldn't help it; she knew he meant well at heart, it's just that when he was drunk, he changed into a completely different person. When he was sober, he could be the most loving, caring man on earth. Unfortunately, those times were few and far in between. Her thoughts were suddenly interrupted when she accidentally knocked over a bottle of pills. She silently prayed to herself that he hadn't heard.

"Vanessa…." his sleepy voice called. She quickly splashed her face with cold water and used a towel to dab at her lip. Now he was awake, he would want sex and she certainly didn't want to disobey him. She bit her lip, holding back unshed tears and opened the door to find him undressed, watching her with hungry eyes. Slowly she walked towards him, while pulling her pyjama top off.

"I'm here for you now," she whispered into his ear, her hands wandering through his blonde mane.

§

"Vanessa! Get up!" He gently shook her awake. She slowly lifted her head up to find him standing directly over her, "Come on, let's go!"

"I still don't understand why I even have to go. It's not like you need me there."

"Just get up and have a shower. We have to be in the arena in an hour."

"What are you going to do if I'm late? Hit me again?" Until this point, he had been running around frantically trying to get ready, but when she said that, it was almost as if time had frozen still. Noticing the increasing awkwardness, she left him standing there to go and have a shower. A little while later, when they were both ready, they entered the car. He was about to put the key in the ignition when he suddenly stopped and turned to face her.

"You do know that I love you Vanessa?" She continued to stare out of the window, not even acknowledging what he said, so he carried on. "I know that I've been terrible to you and you do not deserve any of the shit I've been giving you. So for that, I'm sorry." He carefully turned her head so she was staring directly into his green eyes. "I love you Vanessa Milan."

She softly smiled at him and stroked his chin, "I love you too Adam Copeland."

"I will change if it's the last thing I do. No more drinking, no more hurting you…"

"Let's not worry about that now. We have to go or else you'll be late for the show and we certainly don't want that." He smiled at her once more, then put the key in the ignition and used his free hand to stroke hers. They drove in silence for the rest of the journey.

When they arrived at the arena, Adam was informed by one of the road agents that Vince requested his presence at a meeting urgently.

"What should I do?" Vanessa asked him. Just as he was about to answer, he saw Maria Kanellis walking in his direction.

"Maria will look after you. Have fun", and with that he rushed off with the road agent.

"So you must be Adam's new girlfriend then?" Maria smiled, then moved her head closer to Vanessa's and lowered her tone, "You must be brave. I can't imagine all the stuff he must be doing to you." Vanessa pulled back; startled at how someone she's never met before knew so much about something so personal. But the WWE Diva simply smiled and led her to the Women's Locker Room. On her way, they passed a very attractive young man, who must have noticed Vanessa, because when they crossed paths, he licked his lips seductively and stared at her from behind, long after she had walked past. Maria noticed this exchange and made a mental note to talk about it later. When they reached the locker room, they found 5 other women getting prepared for the show.

"Ladies, I'd like you to meet Vanessa," Maria announced.

"Great, another talentless model hired to make all the horny 12-year-old boys happy." Victoria sneered under her breath, loud enough so that the whole room heard. 2 of the other girls tried to stifle their laughs, but Vanessa heard them. Trying not to let her emotions show, Vanessa simply laughed off the comment.

"Actually, I'm just here with Adam, but I'll take it as a compliment that you thought I could be a model." The whole room fell silent and she saw the women look at each other uncomfortably, which aggravated her. "Tell me then, what have you heard about Adam this time? More useless gossip probably. None of you probably even know him that well, yet you scorn whenever his name is mentioned. You're all so lonely, that you make up rumours about someone else, just to make the fact that none of you could get a decent guy like him more bearable!"

The ladies grew even more embarrassed, so Maria decided to speak up. "To be fair, it's hardly a secret now. Adam's last girlfriend always used to have cuts and bruises all over her and she always used to look so pale. I mean, she was practically a ghost! There's no way of hiding that." She saw Vanessa's confidence shrinking and she was looking at the floor, avoiding eye contact. "I'm not saying you're like that. You're beautiful. Even Victoria mistook you for a model. It does not look as though he's been mistreating you but I suppose you can never really tell properly from outside appearance. Make-up and a false smile can cover even the deepest of wounds, physical and emotional. I should know, I've done it myself." She stood up and went over to Vanessa. "We know everything. Adam spends so much time on the road, it's impossible to ignore all the signs. We might even know him better then you think you do. Everyone shows their true colours when they're always around someone. You can only put up an act for a certain period of time, after that you start to become yourself. He's drunk all the time. I have to admit, he does seem to be improving, but Vince McMahon isn't a very patient man. He has a business to run and since Adam is one of his best superstars, if he's not professional and performing badly, then it reflects the whole company. I'm afraid it's too late."

"What do you mean, 'too late'?"

Maria let out a deep sigh. "I'm sorry to be the one telling you this, but Vince is about to fire him and force him into 4 months of rehab."

Vanessa felt paralysed with fear when she heard this. Wrestling was Adam's passion, his life, his everything. Without it, he would probably fall deeper into addiction then he already had. It would destroy him, she was certain of it. Without warning, she dashed out of the locker room ignoring Maria calling her name. On her way she passed the very same man who she saw a few minutes ago. As she walked past him, he grabbed her arm and spun her around.

"Where are you off to that's so urgent?"

"Please, I really need to go and find someone," she replied, looking at the floor. She could feel herself blushing profusely and did not want him to see. He observed her reluctance to look at him directly and he lifted her chin towards him in the exact same way Adam had in the car earlier. However, this time, as soon as his hands made contact, a warm sensation passed through her chin and rippled right through her body.

"I'm John Cena," he said in almost a whisper and smiled. Seeing his grin melted her heart and erased all the worries that were previously going through her mind. She could not help but smile back.

"I'm Vanessa."

"Vanessa..." he repeated her name slowly, treasuring every syllable as though they were more precious than gold. "Sorry for holding you back, I just knew I would never forgive myself if I didn't go and talk to you. Didn't you say you were on your way to find someone?"

"Oh yes! I really do have to go now. I'll see you around."

"Definitely," he replied and looked her up and down. She felt him undressing her with his eyes, so she quickly excused herself and rushed off without looking back. As she reached a staircase, she leant against the railing and breathed deeply to try and stop her heartbeat escalating any further. She slumped down to the floor and found herself on the verge of tears. What was even more mysterious to her was that she was not sure whether she was crying because Adam was about to lose his livelihood, or whether it was the realisation that her brief encounter with John Cena in the hallway was the most affection she's ever received in her entire life.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer – I own none of the characters except Vanessa and Leila. The rest are trademarked to World Wrestling Entertainment.

Vanessa rushed down the corridor until she saw a demoralized Adam, walking out of Vince's office.

"Adam?" She tried to take his hand, but he pulled away from her abruptly and remained in the same place. "Come on, let's go sit down somewhere and talk." After a few minutes of persuading, she led him to an empty locker room, where he immediately sat down and held his head in his hand, not even looking at her.

"My whole life gone just like that – I don't know what I'm going to do!"

"Adam, I'm so sorry. I don't even know what to say…"

"Not just wrestling. Everything. Vince certainly didn't hold anything back. First I'm going to 4 months of rehab and then when I get out, I'm blocked from wrestling in any company for 2 years. It's almost as though he wants to punish me, not help me. He's a selfish bastard." All of a sudden, he jumped up and kicked a chair. "It's not right!"

Vanessa rushed over and held him in her arms. "Sssh, it's going to be fine. Just let it all out now." His weight buckled and he fell on his knees crying. Vanessa knelt down beside him and rocked his head, while he cried. He seemed so vulnerable in this position, she couldn't help but remember all the times when he had been in this position yet he continued his torture. She must have shown some of her emotions because Adam lifted his head up and looked at her intensely.

"Will you be okay?"

"Yeah I'll be fine!" She realised by his expression that this was not the reply he wanted so she quickly changed her mind. "Of course I'll miss you an awful lot while you're in rehab. But I'll write to you every day."

"I'm afraid I won't be allowed any contact with anyone on the outside world, apart from one letter." He paused for one second, and then took both of her hands. "I think we should break up."

She let out a little gasp. For a very long time, she considered breaking up with him but she felt too trapped to even attempt it. But now the moment had finally come, yet she didn't know how to feel about it. "Why?"

"This isn't fair to you. None of this. I've treated you shit and the only way I can start to heal is by letting go. The idea of rehab has been suggested to me for a long time and the only way I can start healing is by letting go of some parts of my life that tend to cause me to drink. You're part of that."

"What do mean I'm part of that?" She felt all the frustrations that she felt earlier building up inside of her, exploding to the surface. "All I've ever done is support you in everything you do. I've been a perfect girlfriend to you and yet you've abused me. I just held you while you cried and here you are, trying to put the blame on me. This is all down to you Adam. I was there for you during it all and you repay me like this? Well thanks a lot, it's nice to know how much you appreciate me!"

"Is everything okay in here?" Before Randy Orton could finish, Adam had struck Vanessa in the face and she fell to the floor. A few ring guys outside swarmed into the room to attend to her, while Randy Orton restrained Adam back and pushed him out of the room.

"Jesus Adam, control yourself. What's Vince going to think now when he hears about this?"

"I don't know or care anymore." He peered into the room to see Vanessa lying on the floor unconscious. "I've lost everything now and there's nothing else to live for." He barged past Randy and walked out of the arena.

"Adam, please don't do anything stupid!" Randy called out after him, but he had already left. He was about to follow him, but he had his own career to think about. Adam was his best friend but he knew that if he left, then Vince would fire him and that was a risk he was not willing to take.

§

Vanessa opened her eyes to find 3 surgeons and Maria towering over her.

"Her eyes her moving!" she heard Maria yell before being told to leave by one of the surgeons. The next couple of minutes consisted of doctor's asking her general questions to check that she was okay. She resisted the urge to roll her eyes and instead answered every question perfectly with a smile on her face. Hospitals made her wince; therefore she wanted to get out as soon as possible, even if that meant putting her health in jeopardy.

"Okay, Miss Milan, it seems as though everything is fine. You suffered a mild concussion and so I would recommend avoiding anything strenuous for a couple of days, until you feel 100 again."

She politely thanked him and began to get off the table when she was abruptly stopped.

"I'm afraid we can't disperse you yet. We still have to run some tests just to make sure that everything is okay. It will only take a few minutes." She quietly grumbled to herself before lying back down again. One of the surgeons opened the door and told everyone waiting outside that they could come in. Maria, Randy Orton and one of her best friends from home, Leila came in.

"Hey girl!" she yelled, rushing to her bedside and giving her a huge hug. "What happened to you?"

"Trust me, you don't want to know." She smiled when she saw Randy Orton come in holding flowers and he gave her a kiss on the cheek.

"Hi, thanks for these, they're absolutely amazing!"

"Technically, they're not from me. They're from Adam."

"Randy!" Maria interrupted, and then lowered her voice. "What did I tell you in the car?"

"Don't worry about it. I'm fine." She put the flowers next to her and beamed at everyone. "Really, I'm okay. You can mention him around me, it's okay. Yes we broke up, but I'm not bitter, I wish him all the best of luck in rehab and with whatever he decides to do."

"Well that's good then," said Maria quickly and changed the subject. "How much longer will you be here for?"

"The doctor says just for a couple of minutes but you never know. I'm itching to get out of here, hospitals give me the creeps." She roughly itched herself, until Leila sat down beside her and hugged her again.

"You'll be out of here soon, trust me." Leila rummaged in her bag for a while, until she finally pulled out a notepad and a pen. "I'm sorry if this is the wrong time, it's just that I'm a really big fan."

Maria and Randy Orton discreetly smiled to themselves and signed her book. "So, you a fan of wrestling then?"

"Ever since I was a baby. I've always loved it. You're my favourite wrestler."

Randy grinned and looked at Leila more closely. She was absolutely gorgeous, she was a mix of Puerto-Rican and African-American, with long brunette hair braided into two plaits. Definitely his type of woman. "Why, thank you! If you're not doing anything tomorrow night, I can probably get you tickets for the show, then we're going to a club to celebrate Cena's birthday."

Both Leila and Vanessa looked at each other and simultaneously said, "We'll be there."

§

"This better be the right way," Leila said. Before Vanessa could answer her, they saw Maria, Kelly Kelly and Mickie James sitting in the canteen area. Leila went round and hugged everyone, but Vanessa stood to the side and smiled politely at all the women.

"Hey, we didn't think you'd be able to make it," Mickie said.

"No, I wouldn't miss this for the world! We got here early but we got a bit lost on our way to here, thanks to someone," she said, looking at Vanessa.

"I've already apologised! What do you want me to do?" she cried out, failing to hide the creeping smile on her face.

"Forget about that, I'm so excited for the party tonight!" Maria squealed.

"Me too, I bet it's going to be amazing. Oh my God, I still can't believe that I'm going to a wrestler's party!" screamed Leila

Kelly shot her a disgusted look. "You won't be going, if you plan on wearing _that_"

Leila imitated her look, "Trust me; I've got a change of clothes in my bag. I just didn't want them to get all messed up while I was at the show."

"Well then you'd better get going then, it's just about to start. Run along now, you wouldn't want to miss Randy Orton's match. You should be there screaming for him like all the other 12-year old dumb, trampy girls in the audience."

"What exactly is your problem?" Leila stood up and towered over the other girl.

"Ladies! There's no need for all of this, let's all just enjoy ourselves and have a good time. I'll walk you to your seats." Mickie got up and Leila and Vanessa followed her to the opening doors.

"What the fuck was wrong with her?" Vanessa asked, growing angrier by the second.

"Trust me, I haven't got enough time to explain it to you now. Just go out, enjoy the show and I'll meet you by the back entrance to get ready to go to John's party. Okay?"

"We'll be there, thanks." Vanessa quickly said and led Leila to their designated front seats.

"If that bimbo messes with me again tonight, then I swear there's going to be some major drama at John's party tonight. I don't know who she thinks she is, talking to me like that but she's definitely going to learn a lesson, if she even tries it again."

Vanessa nodded in agreement without really listening to her. Whenever Leila got angry, there was no reasoning with her, so it was just best to let her steam off. Hopefully Kelly wouldn't talk to either of them again; if she did, then she would have to find out the hard way about the very short fuse of her best friend.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer – I own none of the characters except Vanessa and Leila. The rest are trademarked to World Wrestling Entertainment.

At the end of the show, Randy Orton's music continued as he walked off stage triumphantly. Vanessa and Leila cheered madly then quickly rushed back to the Women's Locker Room to get dressed for that evening's party.

"What do you think of this?" Leila asked, holding up a silk, black micromini with the middle cut out to form a boob tube top and a skirt with only a slim line of fabric in the middle.

"I think you're going to make every single wrestler in there extremely happy!" she chuckled and fished her dress out of her bag. "What about mine?" She held up a patterned black and white silk, spaghetti-strapped dress, just falling below her knee.

"It's a bit reserved, but it'll do." Vanessa playfully threw her shoe at her friend and both ladies hurried to get dressed.

"Everybody ready?" Mickie popped her head in the door.

"We couldn't be more ready!" Leila squealed and both ladies followed Mickie to the parking lot. Kelly spotted Leila and gave her a sadistic look, but Leila simply flicked her hair ignoring it.

"I'm shaking, I can't wait for this party!" Leila exclaimed.

"I know, I know!" Vanessa smiled and followed Mickie in the car to their destination.

§

When everybody arrived, the music was already booming and alcohol flowed everywhere. Most ladies, including Leila flocked to the free bar, but Vanessa slipped away and found a table in the corner.

"Hey! Why are you over here alone?" Randy came up to her and said. As soon as he leaned in, she could smell the strong sensation of vodka on his breath, plus he already appeared tipsy.

"It's okay; I'm just waiting for all the girls with the drinks." Randy seemed satisfied enough with this answer and staggered towards the dance floor.

"This place looks amazing!" Mickie yelled, bringing a tray full of drinks back with Leila, Melina, Candice, Maria and Torrie.

"I know, they've completely revamped the place since we last came," replied Torrie.

"Forget about the décor!" Candice slurred, "Who wants to dance?"

"Great minds think alike!" replied Melina and both girls headed out to the dance floor.

All the girls laughed and continued drinking. Suddenly, Maria banged both hands on the table and laughed loudly.

"I have a brilliant idea of a game we could play!" All the other girls stared at her, anticipating what she was going to say. "I've Never!"

"I've Never?" Vanessa repeated confused, "What's that?"

"Basically, it's a game where one person says something they've never done and if you have done what she's said, then you take a shot. Then the next person continues and the game carries on like that. It's the quickest way to get drunk!"

"I'm up for it!" Mickie yelled. The other girls agreed immediately, but Vanessa didn't reply. Either the other girls hadn't noticed or simply took her silence as an agreement, they started off the game.

"Okay, okay. I'll start," Torrie volunteered. "I've never skinny dipped."

All of the other girls chuckled to themselves and took a shot. "You've all skinny dipped?"

"Trust me, Torrie, you're missing out!" Leila replied and everyone else giggled.

"I'll go next then." Vanessa said. "I've never kissed a girl."

Once again, all the girls took a shot. "Damn, I didn't know it would be this popular!" Vanessa replied, shocked.

"I had to do it for TV," Torrie replied. "Shane McMahon thought it would be a good idea to 'boost up television ratings'. But he's wanted to see me and Stacy Keibler get it on for ages in WCW, so this was the only way he could do it without his wife suspecting."

"Same thing with me," said Mcikie. "I come in for work one day and then I'm told by one of the road agents that I have to kiss Trish! I was nervous as hell, I had to quickly phone my mum and let her know what I was doing, just in case she had the wrong idea!"

"I think it's a McMahon thing. They have a thing for HLA." Torrie interrupted.

"It's funny how Stephanie never has to do anything like this?" Maria sarcastically replied and all the other girls agreed.

"Well, mine was out of choice, even though I was a bit tipsy." Leila announced, "Me and this other girl in college randomly decided to try it, but we've never looked back since."

"Okay ladies, this isn't confession time!" laughed Maria, "Let's carry on with game."

"Sorry ladies to interrupt you, but the dance floor look pretty empty right now and we were wondering if you'd like to dance with us."

Torrie looked at the 3 guys who had approached them and a big smile crossed her face.

"Sure, let's go then!" All the ladies stood up and headed towards the floor.

With the whole buzz of the packed dance floor and the music pounding through the speakers, Vanessa found herself loosening up. All previous restrictions she had before evaporated, leaving her feeling free and exhilarated. She looked over and saw Randy Orton with Leila, one hand firmly clamped around her waist and the other running through her hair. Vanessa couldn't help but feel slightly jealous at the two, completely oblivious to anyone around them, lost in the moment of passion. Her thoughts were soon interrupted by the faint sound of a man's voice and the touch of someone on her shoulder.

"Care for a dance?" She turned around and saw Chris Masters, looking at her with anticipation. She looked over again at Randy and Leila who were now dancing even closer to one another, their bodies merging into one in the faint lighting.

"I'd love to." She answered, smiling. The music had changed to a much slower song, so all that was left on the dance floor was couples. She buried her head into the much taller man's chest and wrapped her arms around his waist. Whether it was the alcohol, or just the feeling of being so close to another man apart from Adam, she found herself feeling nauseous but in a good way. Almost like the feeling people tend to get after getting off a thrilling roller-coaster. Exhilarated but queasy. Chris was practically supporting all her weight, but he either didn't notice since he was so big in comparison, or he didn't care so didn't mention anything. As the song drew to an end, she looked over to the bar and saw John Cena sitting, looking straight at her. Out of embarrassment, she lowered her eyes to the floor, but when she looked up, he continued staring directly at her with a look she didn't know how to read.

After a few more fast songs, Vanessa and Melina went back to the table they were at previously.

"I don't think I've ever danced so much in my life!" exclaimed Vanessa.

"Yeah, me too." Melina fanned herself with her hands. "It's so hot in here. I'm going to go over to the bar to get a drink. Want anything?"

"Just water, thanks. If I have any more alcohol, I'll probably throw up all over myself!"

Melina mockingly shook her head and went over to the bar. As soon as she left, Chris Masters appeared and sat next to Vanessa.

"You know, you're an amazing dancer," his voice was slurred and she could smell the overwhelming vodka on his breath. He leant towards her, put his hand on her knee and started stroking her thigh. "Come to my hotel room."

She uncomfortably shifted away from him and removed his hand. "No, thanks. I'm not really into that whole thing."

"Come on, you know you want to. Plus your friend seems to have already left you and headed out with Randy."

"If you're talking about Leila, she wouldn't do that to me. I know her. Plus, I just saw her on the dance floor."

He laughed rudely in her face. "Sure about that, are you?"

She scanned the dance floor for Randy or Leila, but she couldn't find them anywhere. As much as she hated to admit it, Chris was right. She just thought that Leila would have told her first.

Chris saw the realisation in her face, but took it the wrong way. "See, it's okay. I know you're worried about your reputation since you just broke up with Adam but I won't tell anyone. Promise." He leaned in towards her and kissed her roughly. Immediately she pushed him off and stood up.

"What the hell do you think I am?" she screamed.

"Leave her alone." They both turned round and saw John Cena with a look of genuine anger on his face.

"Fine then! Have her, she's all fucking yours. Enjoy." Masters yelled, but obligingly walked away.

John and Vanessa remained in silence for a long time, before Vanessa spoke.

"Thanks for that John. I don't know what I would have done if you didn't show up." She smiled at him, but to her surprise he didn't smile back.

"You should have expected this, crawling over a guy you don't even know. Honestly I don't blame him for what he tried to do, if someone acted that way with me, I'd think they were a slut too." With that, he walked off, leaving her standing there; the previous emotions dissolved and replaced with hurt and shame for something she couldn't help.

The party drew to an end and after everyone had said their goodbyes, Vanessa drove alone back to the hotel room she had rented with Leila for the night, before she decided to leave her stranded. She desperately wanted to say something to John at the end, but she knew he wouldn't want her too and she'd probably burst out crying if she did. He was right, she had just broken things off with Adam, but she didn't want to have to wait before she could start having fun again. After all Adam put her through, she was entitled to fun. She owed nothing to _no-one. _Although she tried to convince herself she had done nothing wrong, she still couldn't get his words out of her head.

He called her a slut.

She brushed away her overspilling tears and climbed into bed, knowing fully well that she wouldn't be able to sleep at all after everything that had happened that day.


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer – I own none of the characters except Vanessa and Leila. The rest are trademarked to World Wrestling Entertainment.

Vanessa woke up to find a strange scratching noise at the door. She sat up immediately but then came to her senses.

"Leila," she said to herself, and continued listening to the noise until Leila finally burst through the door wearing the same clothes from the night before, except she had no make-up on and her hair was frazzled.

"Damn, Vanessa! You scared me then. If you were awake, why didn't you come and help me?"

"Have fun?" she remarked sarcastically, ignoring what Leila just said.

She kicked off her shoes and sat on the bed, next to the other girl. "Look, I'm sorry I left you last night, if I knew you would have been like this, I wouldn't have gone."

"Ha, I know for sure, that isn't true! You couldn't wait for Randy to get into your knickers, you two were practically doing it on the dance floor."

Leila stood up and towered over the bed. "You know what, you're just jealous!"

Vanessa stood up as well and moved towards her. "Me, jealous? Fuck you."

"Well fuck you too then!" Leila threw a glass against the wall and then opened the door to exit, but then thought against it and screamed. "This is stupid. Why are we fighting? We're in a beautiful hotel after having just spent an amazing night at John Cena's party and all we can do is fight. What's happened to you; as soon as I walked through the door, you've been giving me attitude ever since. Did something happen to you last night?"

Vanessa remained silent and tried to fight back tears she felt spilling out.

"Oh my god, something did happen, didn't it?" She rushed over to her friend and sat her down. "I'm so sorry I wasn't there for you."

"No, it's nothing, don't worry. I feel so stupid for crying now." Vanessa brushed away her free-falling tears with a tissue and faked a smile. "I'm fine."

"You don't look fine. We've never kept secrets from each other before, why are you going to start now?"

She inhaled deeply, stopped wiping her eyes and instead twirled the tissue around her fingers, avoiding any eye contact with Leila. "Okay, something did happen." She waited for Leila to say something, but she remained silent, and so she continued. "Well I was dancing with Chris Masters for a while, but then I got tired so I sat down while Melina got drinks. Then he came back and started being suggestive, asking me to come back to his hotel room with him. I said no, so then he got angry and the whole situation blew up."

"I'll kill him when I see him!" Leila interrupted.

"Let me finish, he's not the reason I'm upset anyways." Vanessa went on to explain what happened with John Cena. As she retold the events, she noticed her friend getting tenser by the second and her cheeks flushed with anger.

Leila hesitated for a moment before answering. "He doesn't even know you, how dare he say something like that? He has no right saying that. He probably thinks I'm an even bigger slut."

"Why does everything always have to be about you, Leila? You're so self-centred."

"Right that's the second time you've snapped at me in the space of a couple of minutes. John Cena must have really hurt you and for that he has to pay."

"Leila, please just leave things alone." Vanessa pleaded with her friend.

"If he thinks, he can mess with us and get away with it, then he has another thing coming to him." She quickly changed her clothes and stormed out the room.

Vanessa followed her steaming friend down to the lobby, where they found John Cena, Shawn Michaels and Carlito sitting at a table having breakfast. Leila stormed up to John, picked up the glass of water standing beside him and threw it in his face.

"That's what you get for messing with one of my friends!"

Before he could reply, security quickly grabbed the two girls and escorted them out of the building. While Shawn quickly rushed to John Cena's aid; Carlito followed them out.

"You can't throw me out, I have every right to be in this hotel just as much as anyone!" yelled Leila.

"I'm sorry, but we can't have guests behaving in the manner that you just did," explained one of the security guards. "It tarnishes the reputation of this establishment. Now, we're not asking you to leave, we just want to make sure law and order is maintained."

"We know, and we're sorry. It won't happen again."

The guards seemed satisfied with Vanessa's apology and left them alone. As soon as they had gone, Carlito approached the girls.

"Listen, I don't know who you are, but John really didn't need that at this moment, so please just leave him alone."

"Why shouldn't he? Just because he's John Cena – the superstar wrestler doesn't mean that he shouldn't be held responsible for hurting Vanessa."

"Maybe so, but I can imagine he must be feeling pretty hurtful now he found out his brother just got murdered."

Both ladies immediately froze with shock. Even though she hardly even knew John, Vanessa felt immense grief. She knew what it was like to lose someone very close, and she could empathise with how he felt. She remembered back when her fiancé had died; the grief was unbearable. It swallowed her whole and constantly tortured her, reminding her of that dreadful day when she discovered him. She almost convinced herself that he was simply sleeping, but when she saw the empty bottles of pills and vodka next to his bed, she knew what had happened.

"I don't know what to say," she eventually replied, after a long period of silence. "I'm so sorry."

"Not me you should be saying that to," Carlito answered then walked off.

"I feel like such a bitch." Leila frowned.

Vanessa sadly looked at her. "Me too. We should go find him and apologize."

"I'm probably the last person he'd want to talk to. Plus, I want to go find Randy first."

"Are you serious? You just found out that someone's brother got murdered, yet you want to go and find the guy you screwed last night?"

"Vanessa, it's not like that. I just…"

"No, it's fine. Sorry. You go find Randy; I'll be looking for John."

"Sure about this? I can come with you if you want."

"I'll be fine. I kind of want to be alone with him anyways. He probably won't want to see both of us. I'll see you around."

Leila gave her friend a small smile before leaving. Vanessa inhaled deeply, and steadied herself before she would have to face John once again.

§

Up in his hotel room, John Cena sat on his bed and flicked through music channels on TV. Although he wasn't even concentrating, he needed something to distract his mind from his brother. He knew that this was no accident. His brother had been murdered. Someone must have been out for him. And John was determined to find out who it was and make them pay. His phone rang and sent him out of his thoughts. When he answered all he heard was heavy breathing on the other line, then faint laughter.

"Who the fuck is this?"

"After a long pause, a deep male voice replied. "You'll soon see." Then the phone went dead.

Suddenly, there was a knock at the door. He thought about the phone call, and picked up a golf club that was lying around. He swiftly opened it, only to see Vanessa looking very sombre.

"Can I come in? We need to talk."

He didn't reply but gestured for her to come in. Vanessa tried to ignore that fact that he was topless, only wearing a pair of sweats. She may have seen him topless many times on TV before but she'd never seen it up close. His body was perfectly sculpted; she imagined herself wrapped up in his arms. So inviting.

"You said you wanted to talk." John stated, disrupting her thoughts. "So talk."

"I'm really sorry to hear about your brother."

He flinched at this. Somehow, the fact that only he knew was enough to comfort him and make him believe that maybe it wasn't true. But now he had heard the words, it made it all too real. "I told Carlito not to tell anyone."

"He wanted me and Leila to understand. If we'd known, then Leila definitely wouldn't have thrown the drink on you."

"Why should I be treated differently just because someone has died? I'm still the same guy. I'm not a fucking invalid. If you want to show that you hate me, then you should have done it, regardless of my situation."

Vanessa was shocked by this. "I don't hate you, John. I don't think I ever could."

"You don't even know me."

"But I want to get to know you." Vanessa realised the sexual undertones to this and rapidly tried to change it. "What I mean is that, you seem a nice guy. And I would never wish sorrow upon anyone, even if I did hate them."

"I know what you meant." John reached over to the bedside table and poured himself a glass of vodka, which made her flinch. "How is Adam doing these days?"

"Fine. I understand. You obviously don't want to talk to me. I'll see myself out."

"Vanessa, wait." He grabbed her arm and pulled her in close to him, so their bodies were touching. "I don't want you to go."

She hesitated, taking in the moment. "I don't want to go either."

With this, he leaned in and kissed her. He wrapped his hands around her waist and she brought up her hands and tenderly stroked his face. Unexpectedly, she pulled away.

"This is wrong. I'll only be taking advantage of your situation."

He exhaled loudly and poured himself another glass of vodka. "Leave then."

"John, it doesn't have to be like this…"

"Just go!" he screamed at the top of his voice. Scared by this, Vanessa quickly rushed out the room and ran to her hotel room. When she arrived, she slammed the door and burst out crying into her pillow. A little while after, she heard a knock at the door. Rushing, she wiped away her tears and opened the door.

"John…"

"Please, just don't say anything."

He flopped into her arms and started crying. She gently escorted him onto the bed and sat him down.

"I don't know how I'm going to deal with this. Why couldn't I have died instead? Why couldn't have it been me?"

She rocked him back and forth almost as though he was an infant. He felt so fragile in her arms. Just watching him made her shed tears again. Although she desperately wanted him, she never imagined things would have turned out like this. He was a broken man and putting the pieces back together again was not gong to be an easy task.


End file.
